Thursday, April 27, 2017

Being
a truly great and inspiring leader, who is both effective and respected, is no easy task. Though the job certainly comes with
a measure of prestige, every seasoned leader will tell you — it also comes with
endless hard work, harsh criticism, and significant stress.

What
fuels you to push forward when the
pressure is on?

If
you’re like the majority of the Western world, you’re probably motivated by
greater and greater personal financial success, the yardstick most leaders use to
assess their value. Year after year, you work longer hours, pushing yourself to
even-higher heights — the next promotion, broader recognition, or another
impressive leap in income — only to discover that the “high” of reaching that
next level disappears in mere minutes or days.

But our individual
success is not what we care most about.

Each
of us has a powerful need to positively
affect the people and world around us. This need and inspiration is called
our “noble goal.” In its simplest form, our noble goal is our personal response
to the question: What context, atmosphere, or environment do I want to create
for myself and others?

When we remain in the narrow, scarcity mindset of self-focus and self-promotion,
we lose our care for others and the broader perspective. When our motivation is
exclusively centered on elevating our own “success,” we create an environment
of distrust, competition, animosity, and separation.

But,
when we connect to a noble goal, it’s clarity inspires us and guides us toward what
we really care to bring about in the world, in all domains of our lives – our families, our workplace, our communities,
and our society. It is our North Star, and it has the power to guide both our
long-term direction as well as our moment-by-moment choices.

At Encore Capital Group, a debt collection company, CEO Brandon Black and his
employees decided that “restoring dignity and creating a path toward financial
independence” for their customers was a core tenet of their noble goal. To
breathe life into that goal, they created a Consumer Bill of Rights that began
shaping the essential why in how they
interacted with their customers and the very way they thought about their business.

“People at Encore were passionate about The Consumer Bill of Rights,” says
Black. “It gave employees a sense of pride about our company. I never saw that
level of enthusiasm for quarterly results or a new strategy.”

And
embracing a shared noble goal ultimately delivered positive business returns.
As Encore’s team approached their daily work through this new lens, morale
increased and collections continued to grow.

Here are 3 reasons why:

1. A noble goal inspires you to blaze
new trails

Focusing intently on a larger purpose helps inspire you to explore new ideas or
try new approaches. It gives you the courage to take risks you might not
otherwise dare to.

When Black and his team created the Consumer Bill of Rights, it felt scary and
risky to break the mold in an industry known for less than warm and friendly
debt collection practices. But ultimately, employees felt inspired and
empowered to act from a space of caring. They began humanizing their customers.
Instead of acting like adversaries, Encore employees became customer allies, listening
to their stories and helping customers rise out of the financial burden (and
personal shame) of excessive debt.

As
you begin to prioritize caring and empathy over your own personal discomfort, your
mental faculties focus on what really matters and how to do it to the utmost of
your ability.

2. You look for ways to
unleash other people’s potential, not just your own
Early in his role of CEO, Black admits he competed to be the smartest person in
the room, to be the one in the spotlight. He thought that was how you led people
– how one gained recognition and success. But after identifying his own noble
goal, Black developed a new way to lead.

“I learned to value transparency, empathy, and vulnerability as much as
business intellect,” said Black. “Today, I’m able to be present with my
colleagues, family, and friends; see different possibilities; and create a
collective agenda instead of one dominated by my opinions. I believe Encore’s
runaway success was directly tied to this shift in management philosophy and
culture. I wish I had learned this lesson way back when I started leading
people!”

When leaders center on a noble goal, the positive shift is contagious. The
collective energy of the team also shifts from self-preservation to focusing on
growth, connecting to one another, and co-creating something larger. Every
person who steps up creates positive ripples throughout the organization – and,
themore senior you are, the more
impactful your behavior.

3. You’re able to face criticism with confidence and courage When the collections industry later came under fire, Encore felt confident
they had nothing to hide about how they operate. It didn’t mean they were
perfect, but their noble goal helped rouse a solid sense of courage because
failing, being judged, or feeling hurt seemed less threatening. They felt
secure enough to say to their detractors, “Come take a look and tell us what
you find.”

If
there were flaws in their system, they wanted
to learn about them because it accelerated their ability to fulfill their
mission. Criticism never feels good—because it threatens our ego’s desire to be
competent, perfect and successful. But when that feedback can help you and your
team achieve your noble goal more effectively, the sting of a critique is
lessened.

Good news: It’s never
too late to embark on this important work.So,
what’s your noble goal?

Below
the surface, every leader brims with this incredible generosity, creativity and
motivation. You are wholly capable of putting aside your ego’s ambitions to
reach for a higher calling. You no longer have to build your life and career at
the expense of others or at the expense of genuine personal fulfillment.

The
desire to serve a noble goal is in your DNA, and the energy you will feel when
you acton this instinct will elevate
your focus, increase your enthusiasm, and amplify the impact of your leadership
in profound and powerful ways.

Shayne Hughes is President and Culture Change Partners
of Learning as Leadership, a San Francisco-based management consultancy, where
he specializes in creating corporate cultures of open communication and
collaboration.

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Most of us aspire to be great leaders—passionate, inspiring,
thoughtful and productive. But we all know people in the business world who do
a terrible job in leadership positions: awful bosses, disengaged department
heads, ineffective team managers, and otherwise bad bigwigs in nice offices who
make the work environment an unpleasant one.

So if we all have the potential to be great leaders, where
do some go wrong? Perhaps some leaders have developed bad habits; some lack an
understanding of what it takes to be a good leader; and some feel they’re
leading well simply because they’re focused on their intention to lead, not the results of their leadership. I
specialize in bringing improvisational skills to the workplace, and one of the
key elements of improvisational thinking is the ‘self-audit’—the ability to be aware in real time of how
you’re doing your job and how your actions and leadership style are impacting
those around you.

A regular self-audit can keep you from slipping into one or more of the
following leadership categories. If you find that some of your language,
actions or habits are on this list, don’t worry—some simple improvisational techniques
can help you fix them.

YES, BUT(’ers)

‘Yes,
but(’ers) miss a key truth: how you frame language can make an enormous
difference in sharing ideas, brainstorming, relationship building, and creating
culture and influence. If people know one thing about
improvisational thinking, it’s
the concept of “Yes, and…” in which you invite open communication by responding
directly to and striving to build upon the other person’s ideas. In contrast, “Yes,
but…’ devalues, undermines, redirects, and (to the person hearing it) even
negates everything that came before it.

IMPROV
CORRECTIVE: Be mindful of your team and your role by specifically using
“Yes, and…”. Make it clear
that you respect what team members have to say and value their input. A great
leader creates an atmosphere in which all members can flourish, and using the
“Yes, and…” improv technique can help you create a culture of acceptance.

PARTY POOPERS

Some leaders assume that every party needs a pooper, and that
a leader should point out
flaws in others’ work—or say ‘No’ to others’ ideas. Their guiding principle
seems to be negativism, and if something does turn out right, they feel
compelled to point out that it could have been done better. Few things
demotivate and demoralize a team faster.

IMPROV
CORRECTIVE: Understand the difference between Divergent thinking
(generating as many ideas as you can) and Convergent thinking (winnowing them
down to one or two killer ideas). During divergent thinking, take off the “critical
thinking” hat so you and your team can fully explore the possibility and
potential of ideas before shooting them down. Then reapply the critical
thinking skills in a separate convergent thinking phase, as you drive toward a
productive outcome.

DR. KNOW-IT-ALLs

For these leaders,
there has never been a good idea that couldn’t be dismissed in favor of their
‘better’ idea. These people judge the decisions of others without collaborating
or contributing to the team in any meaningful way. They are much more
interested in highlighting their own achievements, accolades, status and rank.

IMPROV
CORRECTIVE:Set the
ego aside. Make sure that your subordinates and colleagues perceive your own goal
as a leader to be the achievement of positive team results, not personal gain.
If you’ve created a strong, improvisational team and a ‘Yes and’ environment, everyone
will help each other succeed; team success is personal success. A good leader
will make a good team look great, and a great team will make a good leader look
amazing.

THE ZOMBIES

This approach to
leadership is thoughtless, passionless, and lacking in energy. These leaders say
they prize creativity, innovation and change but demand that the same old
things be done in the same old way they’ve always be done. They talk a lot
about ‘motivation’ without ever doing anything to motivate.

IMPROV
CORRECTIVE:Constantly
take action. Make initiations and declarations. A leader needs to keep the
energy of a team focused and driven. Change is a constant. You can lead change,
follow change, or get dragged along behind it. Which do you prefer?

PROFESSOR PERFECT

This leader may be well-liked and has gotten successful
results in the past but has fallen into the trap of demanding 100% perfection
100% of the time. This leadership dynamic is based in micromanagement, rooted
in a fear of failure.

IMPROV
CORRECTIVE: Go ahead, be
vulnerable and open to strategic failure. Improv is by nature about failure and
evolution. An improvisational leader should experiment and innovate when
possible and constantly seek out potential ways to improve performance. Create
periods of time in which it’s okay to take chances and fail.Avoid analysis paralysis; remember that only
approximately 10% of decisions have to be 100% correct—the remaining 90% of
decisions just need to be made, and there’s plenty of room to improvise, adapt
and succeed. Avoid micromanaging by using improv techniques to create a team
culture based in open communication and trust.

LINO

A Leader in Name
Only, these people provide no guidance or support and barely show any
leadership presence. Though not present for the day-to-day grind, they take all
the credit for success and no responsibility (or accountability) for struggles,
challenges or failures.

IMPROV
CORRECTIVE: Lead by example, not with empty
declarations. That means being available when guidance is needed and aware that
struggles could be great opportunities for mentorship and team growth.
Moreover, own the failures.
This is a simple matter of integrity and accountability. The buck does indeed
stop with you. A great leader credits the team when there is a success, and
shoulders the responsibility when there is a failure. Any team’s chances of
achieving desired results increase when a leader allows team members to be
invested in success, appreciated when they achieve it, and free of a fear of
failure when they don’t.

Great leaders (or bad ones) don’t emerge through just a few decisions or actions.
Leadership traits—good and bad—develop over time, and the most enlightened
leaders make personal leadership development part of their overall strategy for
success. The more honest you are about how you are truly perceived as a leader,
the better equipped you’ll be to avoid leadership pitfalls and influence your
team in a positive way.

About the Author:

Bob Kulhanis the author of GETTING TO “YES, AND”: The Art of Business Improv(Stanford University Press; January 24, 2017). He is President,
CEO, and Founder of Business Improv, an innovative consultancy that specializes in experiential learning and
serves an international roster of blue-chip firms. He is also an Adjunct
Professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business
School. A performer with over 20 years of stage credits, he has trained with a
long list of legendary talents, including Tina
Fey and Amy Poehler. An actor
and former core faculty member in Chicago’s famed Second City and a member of the resident company at the iO
Theater, Kulhan is a co-founder of the critically acclaimedBaby Wants Candyimprov troupe. His work has been featured by such
outlets as Big Think, CNN, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, the
Financial Times, NPR, Slate, and the Wall Street Journal.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

As a
leadership coach, I’ve spent decades observing hundreds of people who have
strikingly different backgrounds and equally diverse approaches to leadership.
Despite the differences, there has been one quality that has separated the good
managers from the exceptional leaders: the willingness to step up to the plate
and face any challenge rather than avoid it. That means making difficult
decisions or implementing unpopular changes. It also means taking a stand or
holding an emotionally charged conversation. Even giving and receiving feedback
can be challenging - yet it’s a challenge that absolutely must be faced.

Thus, being a
great leader means turning towards the problem and tackling it head-on rather
than running from tension. Not just every now and then, but regularly.This may sound like par for the course, but
in fact, it’s more complicated than it sounds and is often shirked because with
challenges, comes pain.

Most of us
have already experienced this somehow. After all, isn’t it easier to find a workaround
in a tricky situation than to risk a confrontation - even if that confrontation
might open the door to a lasting solution? This is just one example among many.

Instead of
trying to erase or evade the potential for pain in the midst of challenges, I
advise leaders to lean into the experience. This begins with acknowledging that
pain will inevitably arise- whether
you’re holding a touchy conversation with an employee who has been an hour late
for a week straight, or making the decision to cut back on departmental funding
or personnel.

Pain can be a
tricky thing. We humans experience pain differently. Our threshold for pain is
entirely subjective. Pain is a stimulus, and how we perceive that stimulus
differs based on our individual propensity to sense it and tolerate it. One
person might faint at breaking a bone while another doesn’t realize it’s broken
for days, if not weeks. To be an effective leader, you have to understand your
relationship with pain and learn to endure it.It is, quite simply, part of the process of effective leadership.Leaders must be mentally prepared for this
fact that pain and have a toolkit at their fingertips for rising to meet
challenges instead of shirking them in favor of stability and comfort.

This, in turn, requires courage. John Wayne once said that courage is
being scared to death and saddling up anyway. This definition is one I’ve held
onto in my work, because I believe courage partly comes from a leader’s ability
to face fear and potential pain.

The good news
is, no matter how pain-averse you are, you can develop the courage and strength
to rise to challenges and work through pain. Everyone can. Leaders falsely believe they are
required to be the Navy Seals of the workplace -- unemotional, unwavering,
strong -- to be considered courageous, but in reality, we all have the power to
tap into courage.

That’s because
courage is not something we are born with.It is not a definitive characteristic like the color of your eyes or
your height. Rather, courage is a mindset that requires only grit and
determination. To be courageous means to keep working at something even if it
is tough or uncomfortable. It takes practice and dedication, but once it’s
developed it is a priceless skill that can be applied to all varieties of
leadership, whether in the workplace, in the community or at home.

Angela Sebaly, author of The Courageous Leader(Wiley, spring
2017), is co-founder and CEO of the firm Personify Leadership, a training provider. Formerly the Vice President of Leadership Development
for a global oil, gas and chemicals inspection company, Angela also serves as
principle consultant for the firm Invested Leadership. An entrepreneur
developing a global presence,Angela has
been coaching, facilitating and leading teams and organizations for over two
decades. Education, communication and courage are the pillars of her life’s
work.She lives with her family in Fort
Lauderdale.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

“I’m a
strategist,” Hank tells his management team. “Like most good generals, I give you the
specifics of what you need to do, and why.”

Hank’s wise about what works best
for him to do – or not to do. But his stereotyping of generals is not accurate.
We’ve worked with four-star generals who describe their leadership method this
way:

“I give my people the bottom line of
what’s gotta happen. They’re on the ground, in the midst of the action, and are
best at coming up with their own strategies for how to accomplish those goals.”

Most problems can be solved in
different ways with a variety of modes of action. Wise leaders know their best methods
for initiating solutions, and who to trust to take it from there. They know
they can’t do it all – and that they need to find the right people to fill in
the gaps. Those gaps aren’t deficits. They are the cards they were dealt. They
are the ones they have to require from others.

No one can do it all. There
are 12 natural or instinct-based ways of making decisions, which the ancient philosophers
and current research ties to the conative part of the mind/brain. Innate
conative capabilities determine our best methods of problem solving, not what
types of companies we run. Human beings
are born with four of those capabilities in their wheelhouse, their MO
(conative modus operandi).

Great leaders know when, where
and why to put their four conative capabilities to use. Wannabe leaders believe
that anything someone else can do well, they can do better. Their lack of
delegating the tasks that don’t fit their MO inevitably weakens respect for
their leadership, leads to a loss of collaborative strengths, and causes mental
burn-out from pushing themselves beyond their limits.

Former Alaska Airlines CEO John
Kelly was a master at knowing when to take charge through one of his conative
capabilities – innovating solutions. He also knew when and how to count on the
traditionalists on his management team. He knew their conative, or
instinct-based MOs, as well as the conative culture throughout his
organization. That allowed him to handle their first-ever loss-of-life in a plane
crash with outstanding communications and his personal involvement in the most
urgent needs. He knew he should be the spokesperson, and he knew exactly who he
could count on to cover the other aspects of the complex situation.

Disaster of another sort was predictable
at Arthur Andersen, the one-time leading global accounting enterprise. Leaders
there ignored warnings that the organization would implode if they didn’t stop
churning out conative lookalikes as partners. Their insistence that everyone
who filled top leadership roles mimic the MO of current partners led to a bunch
of shoot-from-the-hip deal-makers running the place.Too many so-called leaders believed that
bringing in new business was more important than doing an excellent job with their
traditional bean-counting role. No one in authority there was paying close
enough attention to regulatory matters. That’s not a minor “oops” when the
clients you’re advising are lending organizations. Especially since these
clients also had leaders who tended to ignore those pesky little details – and were
paying them to keep their companies out of trouble.

Growth oriented people need to
surround themselves with nay-sayers who save them from themselves. Without the
gumption to listen to what you don’t want to hear, the whole house of cards
will fall down. None of the information we showed the data-resistant leaders in
Arthur Andersen seemed to enter into their decision making. Just a few of the
right people in the right place in the organization would have changed the
history of its catastrophic failure.

Co-authors Gino Wickman and Mark C.
Winters are so right when they wrote
in their book, Rocket Fuel, that pairing the right conative
abilities “is the key to getting
everything you want out of your business.” Their recent experiences in business
show that the pattern we have seen over decades remains consistently true. As
they say, “You will get more of what you want from your business when you share natural talents and innate skill sets,
[because they give] the power to reach new heights for virtually any company or
organization.”

Great leaders
have the humility to know they are great because they recognize what they are
not great at doing – and make the effort to figure out who would be.

Kathy
is the global leader in discovering and accessing the power of human instincts.
She's done the brain research to prove the relevance of her Kolbe Theory of
Conation to individual and organizational success. Kathy was the first person
to connect conative behavior to instinctive drives, which she postulated as the
source of the patterns of mental energy commonly known as a person's MO.

Amyis the president of Kolbe Corp and
leads seminars for business leaders throughout the world. She was recently
named Business Owner of the Year by the Phoenix chapter of the National
Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).